Thank you Eurotubes!

[Cousin Muely]

Just as an update, I did order 4 of these EL844s this weekend. Should be here early this week. They usually ship fast. I am looking forward to hearing the difference.

[Cousin Muely]

I got these in today. I swapped the stocks out on 1 head and combo so I could channel switch between the 2 stacks. I only got a few minutes on them but I have to say I did like what I heard. The tone was more crisp and some of the muddiness was gone versus the stocks. I didn't notice a big difference in volume either. Saturday will give me a lot more time to play around with them. I have a reissue Dynacomp that I want to try like Fullmetal suggested. So far, I think these are a winner.

[dukealexan]

I found a JJ preamp tube I picked up from Eurotube lay'n around, it's a special JJ ECC832. The first 1/2 is a ECC802 and the 2nd 1/2 is a ECC803. I put this in V1 in my C5. Which puts the Ecc802 as the first gain stage and the Ecc803 on the tone stack. It lowers the out a lot, I can turn her up 1/2 before she starts to get loud. Thye also have a reverse Ecc823 which I think I order the next time and put the in V3.

[FullMetalHippie]

That's good to hear Cousin Muelly. I'll be interested in your opinion after you get time to listen more. For me, they not only "make" the C5 for me, but imagine how many other amps that take EL84s could sound as well. I am thinking of the Orange Tiny Terror and Vox Night Train.

[LUVMACHINE]

Those sound really good! I like the sustain and crunch you can still have with them. Some people don't like JJs but, I'm a fan of some of their stuff like the 6V6s and, the ECC83S tubes. I found that their ECC803S sound weak on my Fender Vibro Champ. The ECC803S sound outstanding in my Lil' Night Train on the other hand. There are lots of variable with gear as we all know! In the future I plan on checking out the EL844 on my C5H. Thank you much for sharing that! I had heard some about it but, that was the first time I got a sample listen. I dig the bass you are getting out of those tubes along with the detail being above fair sounding. Thanks again!

[Cousin Muely]

This reminds me that I never did try the Dynacomp

[shaun]

I got a JJ el844 valve for my Class 5.
I havnt gone back and done comparisons between the el84 and el844, but i did give the C5 another go today.

I will say that with the following settings B-0, M-about 1/2, T- full, and with the volume to please, it does sound tight and crisp in tone.
(i must note that i have done the bright switch mod to my C5. Above 50-60%on the volume and it becomes less and less apparent, but at 30% volume it does brighten up.)

I have been going back and forth between my C5 and JCM1 for a while, but with the el844 the C5 wins.
Yes it is still low at home volume, but it has the JMP clarity to it. If you play sloppy, it will sound sloppy and messy, if you are clean, it will sound clean. Im boosting it with a Wampler Plexidrive. The JCM1 has more drive/gain, but doesnt have the punch.

For home, the thing is fucken loud, so i run a 6/12 attenuator (from ebay - good value and quality so far)

[shaun]

I did a quick comparison of the stock JJel84, and the JJel844.

I found the el844 compresses the tone. There was not much of a volume or gain difference, if anything the el844 was slightly lower in vol. and a touch more gain.
The el84 seemed to have a bit more punch and clarity to it. The difference in the 2 valves was subtle, but there is a difference.

This is actually opposite to what Cousin Muely found. I am running the head into a separate cab.

[Cousin Muely]

I did a quick comparison of the stock JJel84, and the JJel844.

I found the el844 compresses the tone. There was not much of a volume or gain difference, if anything the el844 was slightly lower in vol. and a touch more gain.
The el84 seemed to have a bit more punch and clarity to it. The difference in the 2 valves was subtle, but there is a difference.

This is actually opposite to what Cousin Muely found. I am running the head into a separate cab.

What Cab are you running it in Shaun?

[shaun]

Muely, i've got a 4 x 12 B cab with 70's blackbacks and greenback clones, and also a 3 x 12 vertical PA cab with a Celestion t652, 50wt Lorantz greenback, and a 1970's Plessey.

I set the BMT controls at about 2 , 5-10, 7-10, and vol from 1/2 to full
Also i run it at full power, but with attenuation (cuts it at either 6db or 12db only - usually set to -12db for home).

I was a bit surprised after re-reading your post, that you found the el844 to brighten it up.

By the way, you dual C5 stack, whats it like fully cranked with no attenuation or anything? Give a nice big wall of sound?

[Cousin Muely]

I just found the tone to have a little more presence with the stock speakers with the 844s. Maybe that was from the slight gain boost.

Yeah, those little 5 watt stacks are loud together. 2 of those cabs are actually the combos. Dont know if you noticed. Actually I still prefer the tone of either using the 2 combos by themselves or using the 2 heads and ext cabs by themselves. All 4 mixed I just don't like it as much. Theres a tonal difference between the 2 and I have discussed this on here before. For some reason they just don't mix as well to my ears. Maybe in a band setting I might think different.

[ClassicRock88]

Didn't Marshall put TAD EL84's in these stock? TAD's are supposed to be a softer, mushier sounding tube. I replaced my stocker with an Electro-Harmonix after it blew and I thought that I had turned the amp into a buzz saw at first. I had to run my treble way back. I have been thinking of putting a TAD back in the Class 5 but I have also been thinking of trying a JJ EL84 in it because i have heard pretty nice things about their EL84's. I have been using a Mullard RI EL84 (which I think is basically a rebranded Sovtek) that I have been rather happy with. I'm finding I like Sovtek's EL84 tubes. I run them in my Blues Jr. too.

[Marshall Mann]

Didn't Marshall put TAD EL84's in these stock? TAD's are supposed to be a softer, mushier sounding tube. I replaced my stocker with an Electro-Harmonix after it blew and I thought that I had turned the amp into a buzz saw at first. I had to run my treble way back. I have been thinking of putting a TAD back in the Class 5 but I have also been thinking of trying a JJ EL84 in it because i have heard pretty nice things about their EL84's. I have been using a Mullard RI EL84 (which I think is basically a rebranded Sovtek) that I have been rather happy with. I'm finding I like Sovtek's EL84 tubes. I run them in my Blues Jr. too.

Hey Classic,

TAD = Re-branded Shugauang

CP Mullard = Produced by New Sensor Corp (AKA Sovetek). Same plant produces the following CP brands - Sovetek, Mullard, Electro Haronix, Tung Sol, Svetlana and Gold Lion.

[ClassicRock88]

Didn't Marshall put TAD EL84's in these stock? TAD's are supposed to be a softer, mushier sounding tube. I replaced my stocker with an Electro-Harmonix after it blew and I thought that I had turned the amp into a buzz saw at first. I had to run my treble way back. I have been thinking of putting a TAD back in the Class 5 but I have also been thinking of trying a JJ EL84 in it because i have heard pretty nice things about their EL84's. I have been using a Mullard RI EL84 (which I think is basically a rebranded Sovtek) that I have been rather happy with. I'm finding I like Sovtek's EL84 tubes. I run them in my Blues Jr. too.

Hey Classic,

TAD = Re-branded Shugauang

CP Mullard = Produced by New Sensor Corp (AKA Sovetek). Same plant produces the following CP brands - Sovetek, Mullard, Electro Haronix, Tung Sol, Svetlana and Gold Lion.

Some Gold Lions are Chinese made (specifically some of their preamp tubes). Also, this is true. Basically all CP tubes, as I understand it, are produced by New Sensor, Tesla or Shuguang. They are contracted by different companies (such as Ruby and Groove Tubes) to produce different tubes to certain specs. For instance, I can tell an audible difference between the Mullard RI and the EH. They may just be separated out by different characteristics - I have heard a convincing argument that an EL844 is just an EL84 that didn't meet spec and was sold as a different tube, or it may have been just two different tubes having different personalities. But I think to say that just because one factory produced two different labels of tubes that they the exact same isn't necessarily true.

[Marshall Mann]

Didn't Marshall put TAD EL84's in these stock? TAD's are supposed to be a softer, mushier sounding tube. I replaced my stocker with an Electro-Harmonix after it blew and I thought that I had turned the amp into a buzz saw at first. I had to run my treble way back. I have been thinking of putting a TAD back in the Class 5 but I have also been thinking of trying a JJ EL84 in it because i have heard pretty nice things about their EL84's. I have been using a Mullard RI EL84 (which I think is basically a rebranded Sovtek) that I have been rather happy with. I'm finding I like Sovtek's EL84 tubes. I run them in my Blues Jr. too.

Hey Classic,

TAD = Re-branded Shugauang

CP Mullard = Produced by New Sensor Corp (AKA Sovetek). Same plant produces the following CP brands - Sovetek, Mullard, Electro Haronix, Tung Sol, Svetlana and Gold Lion.

Some Gold Lions are Chinese made (specifically some of their preamp tubes). Also, this is true. Basically all CP tubes, as I understand it, are produced by New Sensor, Tesla or Shuguang. They are contracted by different companies (such as Ruby and Groove Tubes) to produce different tubes to certain specs. For instance, I can tell an audible difference between the Mullard RI and the EH. They may just be separated out by different characteristics - I have heard a convincing argument that an EL844 is just an EL84 that didn't meet spec and was sold as a different tube, or it may have been just two different tubes having different personalities. But I think to say that just because one factory produced two different labels of tubes that they the exact same isn't necessarily true.

Sorry if I was misleading in my post. I was not trying to say they were the same tubes, only that New sensor manufactured them.